Lost Heart
by Juliane729
Summary: Shawn and Belle go off for a romantic anniversary weekend when tragedy strikes.
1. Default Chapter

The Return of Belle Contest - Lost Heart  
  
Chapter 1  
  
"Tuesday's plastic corrosion awareness meeting was a big success . . ." Isabella Brady rolled her eyes as her boss droned on about news from all of the departments in the company at their weekly board meeting. Some days Belle regretted leaving Basic Black for an executive position at Lizco, and today was one of those days. It was Friday and she didn't want to be sitting in the conference room. She wanted to be sitting in the back of the limousine Shawn had rented to take them away to Green Mountain Lodge for their first wedding anniversary. She started to daydream about everything she and Shawn were going to do, ski, sit in the hot tub, snuggle by a roaring fire. . . All of a sudden her co-worker and friend Madison elbowed her in the side. Belle was jolted back to reality to see everyone looking at her. "So Belle, how's the fall line looking?"  
  
Shawn Brady was sitting at his desk at the Salem Police Department staring blankly at the computer screen. He couldn't concentrate on work today. All he could think about was the weekend ahead of him. "How's that case coming son?" questioned Bo Brady. Shawn looked up to see his father standing in front of him. "You looked about a million miles away just now." "Nope, just about 50 miles away at the lodge. Belle and I are going up there for our anniversary this weekend" Shawn explained. "Oh, by the way, I know this is last minute, but do you think that you guys could keep an eye on Felix for us? I know cats can stay alone for a weekend, but Belle just loves that animal so much that I know she'd be more comfortable knowing he's being watched." Bo smiled, "Sure, we'll send Zack over to check on him once or twice a day." "Great Dad, thanks. Well, I should try to get some work done before I daydream the entire day away."  
  
Finally it was 6:00pm and Belle and Shawn arrived at home. "Hey honey, how was your day" Shawn asked his wife before he gave her a quick kiss. "It was the longest day of my life. I couldn't concentrate on work, all I could think about was our weekend away." She answered. "Same here. Thankfully the only person who caught me daydreaming was my Dad." Belle replied, "Well, you're lucky, I got yanked back to reality by a boardroom full of people. Madison bailed me out though. I'd probably still be sitting at the table if she hadn't snapped me out of it. Oh geez, look at the time, the limo will be here in half an hour. Are you packed because I still have to throw a few things in my bag." And with that Belle ran up the stairs to their bedroom.  
  
Two hours later they arrived at Green Mountain Lodge. Shawn and Belle checked in and went up to their suite. Shawn flopped on the bed as Belle checked out what was in the room. "Hey Shawn, I'm going to get changed for dinner. I'll be right back." Belle grabbed her dress and went into the bathroom. A few minutes later she came out. She looked around the room and exclaimed, "Oooh, I didn't finish checking out the suite. I didn't look in the kitchen and mini bar." She opened the mini bar door, "There seems to be every kind of liquor imaginable, but why is the run gone?" Shawn walks over to Belle and hands her a drink. "Because I thought I'd make us a drink before we go down to dinner. To us." He said as he clinked his glass with hers.  
  
After dinner, while Shawn was making a fire in the fireplace, there was a knock at the door. Belle opened it to see a waiter with a tray from room service. He brought it in and she tipped him as he left. Shawn came over and took the champagne out of the ice bucket and poured two glasses. He then uncovered a plate of red ripe strawberries. He handed Belle her glass and a strawberry. She took a bite of the strawberry a sip of the champagne and said, "I appreciate this whole seduction thing you've got going on here, but let me give you a tip: I'm a sure thing." Shawn burst out laughing. He knew that Pretty Woman was Belle's favorite movie and truth be told that is where he got the idea to order champagne and strawberries, but he never thought that she'd spout lines from the movie at him as a result. "I love you Belle!" He exclaimed as she pulled him into a passionate kiss.  
  
Saturday afternoon Belle and Shawn sat in their room deciding what they should do with their day. "Belle, why don't we go ice skating. I know you like that." Bell thought for a moment and replied, "I do, but I'm not really in the mood for that today. I'm sure there are a lot of people out at the lake skating. I want to do something with only you. Why don't we go out and play in the snow like we used to when we were kids?" Shawn agreed and they were off. As they passed the front desk, the concierge asked, "where are you two lovebirds headed?" "We're going up to Tyler's Notch to play in the snow" Shawn explained as Belle pulled him out the door. The concierge called after them, "Be careful you two, there have been reports of avalanches out there," but his warning went unheard. 


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2  
  
Out at Tyler's Notch, there were a few scattered snowshoers, but for the most part, Belle and Shawn had the privacy they wanted. They had a snowball fight, rolled down the snowy hills, and made snow angels. "I have an idea Belle, why don't we make a snowman?" Shawn suggested as he began rolling a big snowball. "Ok, I'm game." They worked together and in about 15 minutes there was a very cute little snowman. Belle took off her hat and scarf and put them on Frosty. Shawn turned away from Belle and faced the snowman. Belle tried to look around Shawn to see what he was doing, but he blocked her attempts. Finally he turned to her and moved out of the way so she could see what he had done. On the snowman was a little heart- shaped sign that said "I Love You" on it, just like the one Shawn had pinned on their snowman many years ago. "Shawn, you're such a romantic. I love you too." Belle exclaimed. She ran over to Shawn and jumped into his arms. He lost his balance and they both fell over, laughing.  
  
Before they knew it, the sun was setting. Shawn yelled, "race you back to the lodge" and took off. "Oh I'll get you Shawn-Douglas Brady." She called after him and started to run. "Oh Shawn I have to go back and get my hat and scarf. Time out!" Shawn, who was about 50 feet in front of her, stopped in his tracks and Belle turned back. A minute later he heard Belle yell, "Ok Shawn, I'll be right out to leave you in the dust!" A second later there was a loud rumble and Belle's blood curdling scream." "Belle!" He screamed as he ran as fast as he could towards the woods where Belle had disappeared moments before. When he got there, all he saw was a huge 6-foot tall pile of snow stretching up and down the hill where their snowman was. "Belle! Belle! Where are you?! Shawn started to dig in the snow. "Belle, sweetie, I'm coming, I'll get you out!" He continued to dig. He saw something lavender and dug even more furiously. Unfortunately all he uncovered was Belle's hat. Shawn whipped out his cell phone and dialed the lodge, "Hello, this is Detective Shawn Brady. My wife and I were out at Tyler's Notch and there was an avalanche. M my my wife was caught in it. I need some rescue people out here right now!"  
  
Three hours later, there was still no sign of Belle. It was getting bitterly cold on the mountain and was pitch black. The head rescue worker came over to Shawn, "I'm sorry Detective Brady, we still haven't located your wife. You have helped as much as you can tonight. Meet us out here again at first light." Shawn fell to the ground on his knees. "Is there someone we can call for you?" Shawn looked up at the gentleman and whispered, "I have to call my father." 


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3  
  
Back in Salem, Bo and Hope were sitting in bed reading when the phone rang. "Who could be calling at this hour?" Questioned Hope. Bo picked up the phone. "Hello?" Bo's face went a ghostly shade of white. "OK son, we'll be right there." He hung up the phone and immediately started to get dressed. "Bo, what's going on?" Hope asked. "We need to get out to Green Mountain Lodge. There was an avalanche . . . Belle was caught in the avalanche." Hope jumped out of bed. "Call Lexie to see if we can drop Zack off with her and call the station to see if there are any available rescue team members that can come up to the lodge to join the search."  
  
Up at Green Mountain, Shawn was sitting in the bar at the lodge staring into a beer mug. His mind was racing in a million directions. He thought about how he could have saved Belle one second and what they were going to do to celebrate when she was found the next. He twirled his wedding ring around his finger. The day Belle gave it to him was the happiest day of his life. Everything had been perfect. It was exactly one year ago that he and Belle had stood at the altar in St. Luke's church, professing their love and devotion to each other in front of God and all of their friends and family. Belle looked absolutely stunning in a long white sleeveless gown she had designed herself. It took Shawn's breath away when she entered the church on her father's arm. There was his Perfect Girl, walking towards him about to become his wife. The butterflies in his stomach disappeared the moment John put Belle's hand in his. He knew that Isabella Black was the only woman for him. Shawn felt a hand on his shoulder, not thinking he whipped around and said, "Belle?" His shoulders dropped when he saw it was just his parents standing there. Hope wrapped her arms around her son. "We got here as fast as we could Shawn. What happened?" Shawn took a deep breath as he began to recount the day's events. 


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4  
  
After a sleepless night tossing and turning, Shawn was up and ready to meet the rescue team at 5am. "Ok, we need to get out there and find Belle, where do we start?" The captain of the rescue team took a deep breath, "Detective Brady, we had rescue teams out searching for your wife all night and they came up with nothing. I have to be honest with you, the chances that we'll find her alive are slim at this point." Shawn felt as though he had been kicked in the stomach. "Are you telling me that you're quitting? That there's no hope? That my wife is gone forever?" he screamed. The captain put a hand on Shawn's shoulder, "We're not giving up yet. I just want to prepare you for what may be to come. We have a helicopter crew flying over the area where you last saw your wife and we've called in a team with rescue dogs to see if they can get your wife's scent and find her that way. If you can get something of hers that we can let the dogs smell to get her scent that will really help us out." Shawn nodded and left to get one of Belle's shirts.  
  
At 8pm, Shawn was still searching the hillside for his beloved wife. The rescue teams had given up about an hour before, but Shawn refused to go in. Bo came up to him. "Sailor Man, we have to talk." Shawn turned to his father, "You don't have to say it. Please don't say it. Dad, she can't be gone. There are too many things in life we still have to do together. We were going to go to Europe this summer for a couple of weeks. We talked about adding a couple of bedrooms onto the house for the kids we were going to have. We were going to grow old together and sit in matching rocking chairs on the porch of our retirement home . . . Oh God, my Perfect Girl is gone. How can I live without her?" Shawn broke down into body shaking sobs. Bo helped his son to his feet and walked with him back to the lodge to head home to Salem.  
  
"Shawn, why don't you stay at our house in your old bedroom tonight? I'll go with you to your house tomorrow so you don't have to be alone there." Offered Hope when they arrived in front of Shawn's house. Shawn continued to stare out the window as he had the whole ride home. "No thanks Mom, I have to face the empty house some time, it might as well be tonight." Well, we'll be here in a heartbeat if you need us, OK?" Hope said as she hugged her son. She wished she could take his pain away, but she knew that she couldn't. He grabbed his and Belle's suitcases out of the trunk of the car and went into the house. Felix sauntered into the living room and rubbed against Shawn's leg. Shawn bent down and picked the kitty up. He sat on the couch and listened to the silence in the house as he petted Felix. Everywhere he looked there were reminders of Belle. There was the artwork they picked out together at a gallery on their honeymoon, there was the tiny stain on the carpet from their New Year's Eve party where Rex had spilled red wine, and even the cream colored walls that they had painted together. Everything he looked at made his heart ache. Tears started rolling down his cheeks and onto Felix's black fur. The cat sat up and licked the tears from Shawn's face. "What are we going to do without her, boy?" Shawn questioned. 


	5. chapter 5

Chapter 5 A couple of months later  
  
"C'mon Shawn let's go! We're going to be late for the movie." Mimi exclaimed as she tried to get Shawn out of the house. The last few months had been extremely difficult for Shawn. First it was Belle's memorial and then the holidays. He was not dealing with Belle's death well at all. His life was on autopilot. He went to work, came home, took care of the cat. Only recently had he reconnected with his and Belle's friends. It was too hard for him to be out with couples when he felt like half of his heart was lost. Mimi and Rex were very good at not acting like a couple when Shawn was around, so he had started to spend time with them again. Shawn knew that Belle would have wanted him to move on with his life and have a nice future, but he couldn't seem to let go of his past. He didn't have the closure he needed.  
  
"Doctor McGuire, any change in Jane Doe's condition?" Nurse Kennedy asked as she showed the newest additions to the nursing staff around the hospital. "Sadly no, her vitals are still strong, but she just doesn't seem to want to wake up." The doctor explained as he went about his rounds. "This patient here is a Jane Doe. She was brought in here about three months ago. A couple of hikers found her a mile south of Green Mountain Lodge and brought her in. She was unconscious and suffering from hypothermia. Our best guess is that she was caught in one of the avalanches that occurred in early November and was carried down the mountain a ways." Nurse Kennedy brushed a few stray blonde hairs off of the patient's face. The poor girl couldn't be more than 25 years old. The nurse wished that Jane would wake up every day. It was such a waste for this girl to be literally sleeping her life away. Maybe she had a boyfriend or husband whom she had left behind. Before she left, Nurse Kennedy squeezed the young girl's hand and turned to show the rest of the new recruits the ward. As the door shut, the young girl's hand twitched a little.  
  
As they walked out of the Movie Theater Mimi asked, "So Shawn, I saw Madison at Salem Place today. She was asking about you. You should give her a call some time, maybe go out for coffee or something." Shawn shook his head, "Meems you know I'm just not ready for a new relationship yet. I know you mean well, but I just can't do it." "I'm not trying to push you into anything Shawn, I just think it would be nice for you to get out once in a while. Madison was a friend of Belle's, she's grieving too. Maybe it would be good for you both to get together and remember the good times." Mimi urged. "Shawn took a deep breath and sighed, "Maybe you're right. I'll give her a call next week some time." 


	6. chapter 6

Chapter 6  
  
The young girl opened her eyes and blinked several times to try to clear her vision. Her surroundings came into focus, but they certainly weren't familiar. Everything was white and cold. What had happened? As she tried to piece together her last memories, Nurse Kennedy came into the room to check on her. "Oh my goodness you're awake. I'll be right back, I need to call the doctor." She disappeared through the door again. She said to herself, "OK, so I'm in a hospital." Dr. McGuire came into the room followed by Nurse Kennedy. The doctor took her pulse, looked in her eyes, and took her blood pressure and temperature. The nurse asked, "What's your name sweetie?" "I I Isabella, Belle" "Well, Belle, do you remember what happened?" Belle closed her eyes and thought really hard. "I don't know. All I remember is waking up here. I have no idea how I got here." The doctor piped in, "Don't worry about it, sometimes with extreme traumas like yours, patients have some memory loss, but it usually comes back in a few days. After all, you were in a coma for 3 months." Belle closed her eyes; all of this news was too much for her to handle at the moment.  
  
Shawn woke up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat. He'd had one of those nightmares again. Unfortunately it was a true nightmare. He had dreamt about the day that Belle died. Every movement, every word was engraved in his brain for him to relive forever. Every time he woke up from this dream, he would reach for Belle, but her side of the bed was empty. He never could get back to sleep after that. Shawn got up and went to the kitchen for some cookies and milk. He poured a glass for himself and filled a little saucer for Felix. Shawn had taken to spoiling him a little. Belle had loved that cat so much; that he wanted to make sure that Felix was treated as well as Belle would have treated him. Shawn took his cookies and milk into the office and turned on the computer. He was about to check his e-mail when the news headlines popped up. He read out loud to himself, "unidentified woman regains consciousness at mountain hospital." Shawn looked down at the Felix and said, "It couldn't be . . . could it?" Shawn clicked on the link to the full story but an error message came up on the screen; his Internet connection was lost. 


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7  
  
The next day at the hospital, Belle was able to move around a little. Her memory was still really fuzzy. She walked towards the picture window in the waiting room. The view outside was of Green Mountain. Belle had a flashback of hearing an extremely loud rumble and a wall of snow and ice engulfing her. She let out a gasp as if trying to catch her breath. Nurse Kennedy ran over to her, "Belle, are you alright, do you need to sit down?" "No, I'm OK, I just remembered a bit about my accident." Nurse Kennedy looked relieved. "Well Dr. McGuire said that your memory of the accident would return, it'll just take some time." Belle sighed, "Well, what about my other memories, I mean I know my name, my address, my locker combination from high school, the words to my favorite songs, and I have vague memories of when I was little, but there are huge chunks missing. When will I get everything back? Will I get everything back?" The nurse simply smiled at Belle reassuringly and said, "You're a strong young lady and from what I've gathered, you're a fighter so there's not doubt in my mind that you'll be 100% soon. Now let's get you back to your room. It's almost lunch time."  
  
Even though it was his day off, Shawn was down at the police station. He had to find out about the headline he read about on the computer the night before. His brain was telling him that it was impossible; Belle couldn't possibly be alive. His heart, on the other hand, would not let him ignore the possibility that some miracle had occurred and Belle might have survived. As Shawn walked into the building, he ran into Bo. "Hey Sailor Man, what are you doing here? I thought you had the day of?" Shawn replied, "I do Dad, but I ran across something last night that warranted a little investigation." Bo looked at his son quizzically, "oh really, what was it?" Shawn looked at the ground, "Ok, I know it's a long shot, but I read that an unidentified woman regained consciousness at a mountain hospital. I was thinking that maybe it was Belle." Bo looked at Shawn with sadness in his eyes. "Well what did the rest of the article say?" "That's the thing Dad, I tried to click on the link but I lost my Internet connection. I wanted to see if there was any more information down here." Shawn explained. "So you don't know what hospital they were talking about? Was it a local news headline?" Shawn shook his head, "I don't know, maybe." Bo continued, "So it could have been any mountain hospital. Was there a description of the girl?" Shawn slowly shook his head again. "I don't know." Bo put his hand on his son's shoulder, "Shawn, I would like nothing better than to say that I thought that you were right and this could be Belle, but son, it's impossible. Maybe, just maybe you're grasping at this one shred of hope because today is Valentine's Day and you're missing your wife. Believe me, I know how that feels, but there comes a time when you have to move on. You mentioned that you were going to call one of Belle's friends. Well, why don't you make plans with her for tonight? It might help you get your mind off things." "You're right Dad, it was a long shot. I'll give Madison a call." 


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8  
  
Shawn pulled out his cell phone on his way back to the car. He dialed Madison's number. A friendly voice came through the phone, "Hello?" "Madison, Hi, it's Shawn Brady. How are you?" "I'm fine, how are you doing? I've been wondering how you're holding up." Shawn paused for a split second, "I'm just trying to take things one day at a time. Hey I was wondering, do you want to get together for coffee or something?" Now it was Madison's turn for a short pause, "Well, OK. I'm going away for Valentine's Day weekend with a couple of friends, but maybe when I get back we can get together." "Ok, well you've got my number so why don't you give me a call when you get back and we'll set up a time to meet up. I'll talk to you later Madison, Bye." Shawn was relieved that Madison was busy tonight. He knew his dad was just trying to help, but he was just not ready to be dating, especially on Valentine's Day.  
  
After lunch, Belle turned on the TV. There was a commercial for Hallmark cards for Valentine's Day. Hearts flashed all over the screen. Belle had another flashback, this one was of a snowman with her hat, scarf and a paper heart pinned to its snow chest. She said to herself. "That's what I was doing when the avalanche hit, I was getting my hat and scarf off the snowman." Things started to get clearer, she saw another snowman with the same 'I love you' heart. Then she saw him, this handsome man with brown hair and soulful brown eyes. She remembered what he said when she saw the snowman, "He's telling you the truth Belle, I do love you." Belle jumped out of bed, "Oh My God Shawn! I remember, Nurse Kennedy, I remember!" She screeched. Nurse Kennedy rushed into the room. Everything came flooding back, the anniversary weekend, the race, and the avalanche. "Oh my God, Shawn must think I'm dead! I have to get home to Salem NOW!" Nurse Kennedy jumped in, "Whoa whoa, wait a minute Belle, you can't leave right now. You need to be examined and discharged by the doctor. Don't forget you were in a coma for a long time." "But I need to get home to Shawn; he needs to know I'm alive. Please help me!" Nurse Kennedy thought for a second, "OK I'll make a deal with you, let the doctor check you out and give you a clean bill of health and when my shift is over tonight I'll bring you down to Salem. Do we have a deal?" Belle nodded excitedly, "yes, yes of course. Thank you so much!" Nurse Kennedy left and Belle said dreamily to herself, "I'm coming home to you Shawn."  
  
The microwave beeped signaling that the popcorn was ready. Shawn opened the door, grabbed the bag and headed for the living room. He popped in a DVD of The Matrix. Everyone had tried to get Shawn to go out with them tonight but his goal for the evening was to forget it was actually Valentine's Day. Within minutes, Felix was up on Shawn's lap purring to keep him company. Halfway through the movie, Shawn nodded off. In his dreams, Belle was alive and they were on a plane to Italy to start their European tour. "Shawn, we are going to have the best time on this trip. Imagine, seeing buildings that are hundreds and hundreds of years old, The Leaning Tower of Pisa, The Roman Baths. Places that our ancestors lived before they moved to America. It'll be great." Belle beamed. She looked as beautiful as ever, her blonde hair framed her face and her blue-grey eyes sparkled. Shawn reached over to put his arms around Belle when the 'fasten seat belt' sign lit up and the reminder bell chimed. He put his seat belt on but the bell still rang. The third time it rang, Shawn awoke from his dream to the sound of his doorbell ringing. Sleepily he got off the couch, rubbed the sleep from his eyes and walked to the door. He flicked on the porch light and opened the door. There, right in front of him, stood his beloved Belle. 


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9  
  
Shawn stumbled back a step and rubbed his eyes. "B B Belle? Is that really you?" She nodded her head slowly. He reached his trembling hand out and gently cupped her cheek, startled that she was real. "But how? The avalanche . . . I tried to save you but I couldn't. I searched for hours . . ." She put her finger across his lips to silence him. "Shhh. . . Don't worry about it. The important thing is that I'm alive and back here with you. I'll tell you all about it, but not right now. Right now all I want is to feel your arms around me." He opened his arms and pulled Belle into an embrace. Tears streamed down his cheeks and into her hair but he didn't care. All he knew was that his prayers had been answered and Belle had come back to him.  
  
After Belle had explained everything that had happened with the avalanche, they sat together on the couch. Shawn kept pinching himself to make sure that he wasn't dreaming. Belle played with Felix and Shawn just stared into the face he thought he would never see again. Belle caught him staring, "What is it Shawn?" He took a moment to collect his thoughts, "Perfect Girl, when you were gone, my heart was lost. I didn't feel anything anymore. I just stumbled through daily life. All I thought about was everything that we were going to do together and never got around to. I didn't want to do anything myself because I had to do it alone. Now, for the first time in months, I want to go out and enjoy life." Belle shifted on the couch so she was snuggled up in Shawn's strong arms. "Well, I'm here now, there's nothing to worry about anymore. We can do everything we wanted to. We've got a second chance and I don't want to waste it." Shawn stroked her hair as Belle petted Felix. Soon she was fast asleep. The cat walked around the back of the couch and nuzzled Shawn's ear. "Yeah buddy I know, we don't have to try to live without her anymore." Felix purred contently and Shawn rested his head against Belle's. Soon all three of them were fast asleep. 


	10. Epilogue

Epilogue Six Months Later   
  
"Ok, now pose like you're trying to hold it up." Belle instructed as Shawn moved towards the Leaning Tower of Pisa. She snapped the photo. "That'll be a fun picture for our scrapbook." Belle said as she slipped her hand into Shawn's while they walked along the countryside. "Hey, you never told me why you picked Italy as the starting point for our European Vacation." Shawn smiled, "Well, the night you came home I had a dream that we were on our way to Italy, so I wanted to make that dream come true." "Well, another one of our dreams is going to be coming true in the near future." Belle said with a coy look on her face. "Oh really? And which dream would that be?" "Belle looked Shawn straight in the eyes, "Let's just say that we'd better get started on the addition to the house when we get home." She said with a wink.  
  
The End 


End file.
